Twelve  Wise  Men 
and  What  They 
Did  for  a Race 


A 


Through  the  education  and  training  of  the 
children,  all  race  problems  are  solved 


SCHOOLS  OF  THE  FREEDMEN’S  AID 
SOCIETY  OF  THE  METHODIST 
EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 
BROUGHT  DOWN  TO  DATE 


I Twelve  Wise  Men 


They  met  in  Trinity  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  fifty  years  ago,  and  organized  a 
movement  to  carry  the  gospel  of  enlightenment, 
uplift,  and  religion  to  the  four  millions  of  ex-slaves 
recently  given  their  freedom  by  an  Emancipation 
Proclamation  from  the  President  of  the  United 
States  of  America.  These  Freedmen  had  no  educa- 
tion, no  property,  and,  worse  than  all,  no  experi- 
ence in  taking  care  of  themselves.  They  had 
gained  very  feeble  notions  of  right  and  wrong,  and 
had  but  distorted  visions  of  what  freedom  meant. 
To  a very  large  number  of  them  it  meant  release 
from  the  control  of  the  taskmaster  and  ability  to 
go  where  they  chose  and  do  as  they  pleased.  Many 
of  them  thought  that  the  government  was  going  to 
provide  for  them,  or  that  the  lands  of  their  former 
masters  would  be  divided  up  among  them,  and  that 
hereafter  they  would  have  little  or  nothing  to  do 
except  to  enjoy  the  abundant  blessings  of  a pa- 
ternal government  and  a kindly  Providence. 

The  Freedmen’s  Aid  Society 

These  twelve  men  organized  the  Freedmen’s  Aid 
Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  at 
once  sent  school  teachers  into  the  South  to  gather 
the  scattered  and  ignorant  people  together  in  any 
sort  of  shack  or  building,  or  even  in  the  open  air,  to 
teach  them  the  responsibilities  of  manhood  and 
2 


womanhood  and  citizenship.  Gradually  the  church 
responded  to  the  calls  of  the  Society  for  the  money 
necessary  to  put  up  buildings  and  pay  teachers, 
until,  after  fifty  years  of  earnest  and  faithful 
service  on  the  part  of  teachers  and  liberal  giving  by 
the  church,  there  are  at  the  present  time  under  the 
control  of  the  Freedmen’s  Aid  Society  twenty-one 
institutions  of  learning,  located  in  strategic  cen- 
ters throughout  the  Southern  States,  with  351 
teachers  and  5,804  students,  sending  out  their 
streams  of  intellectual,  industrial,  and  moral  influ- 
ence into  the  masses  of  the  Negro  race,  now  grown 
to  be  ten  millions.  During  the  half  century  of 
their  work,  over  200,000  boys  and  girls  have  at- 
tended the  schools.  Large  numbers  of  them  have 
graduated  and  are  now  the  leading  factors  in  the 
ministry  and  membership  not  only  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  but  of  all  the  colored  churches 
in  the  South.  From  nothing  the  property  of  the 
Society  has  grown  until  to-day  it  is  valued  at 
82,007,750,  and  the  annual  income  from  collections 
in  the  churches,  bequests,  gifts,  and  legacies,  with 
payments  from  students  themselves,  amounts  to  a 
round  half  million  of  dollars. 

The  350,000  colored  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  with  their  3,630  churches, 
210,000  Sunday  school  scholars  (and  a church 
property  valued  at  nearly  $4,000,000),  would  have 
been  impossible  were  it  not  for  the  trained  and 
converted  leaders  who  have  gone  out  from  the 
schools.  We  could  not  carry  on  the  work  of  these 
churches  and  Sunday  schools  to-day  were  it  not 
for  the  young  life  constantly  pouring  out  of  the 
schools  into  their  ministry  and  membership.  Ten 
millions  of  dollars  make  up  the  total  cost 
for  fifty  years.  Just  about  the  price  of  one 
3 


battleship,  or  less  than  the  money  wasted  in  the 
European  War  in  twenty-four  hours. 

The  Schools  To-day 

Many  inquiries  come  to  the  office  of  the  Freed- 
men’s  Aid  Society  for  a detailed  statement  concern- 
ing each  one  of  the  schools,  their  location,  buildings 
and  grounds,  teachers  and  students. 

Gammon  Theological  Seminary 

Gammon  Theological  Seminary,  at  Atlanta, 
Georgia,  is  named  in  honor  of  Rev.  E.  H.  Gammon, 
late  of  the  Rock  River  Conference,  through  whose 
liberality  the  buildings  were  all  erected  and  the 
endowment  provided.  The  school  is  located  on  a 
beautiful  campus,  formerly  a pine  forest,  two  and 
a half  miles  south  of  the  center  of  the  city  of  At- 
lanta. Its  property  consists  of  eighteen  acres  of 
ground,  on  which  are  seventeen  buildings  valued  at 
$82,000,  with  an  equipment  of  library'  and  furnish- 
ings worth  $7,500.  The  institution  has  one  sub- 
stantial main  building  for  dormitory  and  recitation 
purposes,  a library  building,  and  a refectory  or 
dining-room  for  its  students,  four  professors'  homes, 
and  ten  small  cottages  for  married  students.  The 
attendance  approximates  annually  one  hundred,  and 
graduates  to  the  number  of  twenty  or  thirty  are 
each  year  sent  out  into  the  various  colored  min- 
istries of  the  South.  This  is  the  largest,  best  en- 
dowed, and  strongest  theological  seminary  for  the 
training  of  colored  ministers  anywffiere  in  the 
world.  Its  graduates,  w'ho  number  five  hundred, 
occupy  leading  positions — bishops,  secretaries,  dis- 
trict superintendents,  and  pastors — in  our  owrn  and 
other  colored  churches. 


4 


In  connection  with  Gammon  Theological  Semi- 
nary, a department  of  missions  is  carried  on  by  the 
Stewart  Missionary  Foundation  for  Africa,  which 
was  established  in  1894  by  the  Rev.  W.  F.  Stewart, 
an  honored  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  a personal  friend  of  Mr.  Gammon. 
The  Secretary'  of  the  Stewart  Missionary  Founda- 
tion for  Africa  holds  the  Chair  of  Missions  in  the 
Seminary,  and  a large  amount  of  his  time  is  devoted 
to  developing  interest  in  the  evangelization  of  the 
continent  of  Africa  among  the  colored  churches  of 
the  entire  South. 


Our  nurse-training  schools  furnish  a form  of  practi- 
cal training  for  which  women  of  the  Negro 
race  have  special  adaptation 


Meharry  Medical  College 

Meharry  Medical  College,  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
was  established  through  the  benevolence  and  fore- 
sight of  the  Meharry  brothers,  of  Central  Illinois. 
For  almost  half  a century  it  has  been  furnishing 
5 


medical  men,  trained  nurses,  pharmacists,  and 
dentists,  sorely  needed  for  the  ministry  of  health, 
physical  and  moral,  to  the  Negro  race. 

Recently  a Board  of  Trustees  has  been  organized 
and  a charter  granted  to  this  school,  which  up  to 
that  time  was  a department  in  Walden  College. 
It  has  four  excellent  buildings,  one  of  which  is  a 
hospital,  the  whole  valued  at  SI 10,000,  and  con- 
taining an  equipment  whose  value  is  over  S18,000. 
At  the  present  time  it  registers  over  500  students, 
and  has  sent  out  more  than  2,000  medical  graduates, 
or  more  than  half  the  present  number  of  colored 
physicians  in  the  United  States. 

At  the  present  time  one  of  the  greatest  needs  of 
the  Negro  race  in  the  United  States  is  properly 
qualified  and  trained  physicians  and  nurses.  While 
there  is  one  physician  for  every'  500  of  the  white 
population  of  the  United  States,  there  is  but  one 
physician  for  each  4,000  of  the  colored  people. 
Their  poverty  and  inexperience  crowd  them  into 
the  most  unsanitary'  and  disease-breeding  sections 
of  our  cities  and  villages,  so  that  the  death  rate  for 
all  diseases  is  two  to  four  times  as  high  among  them 
as  it  is  among  the  white  population.  Living  in  close 
contact  with  their  white  neighbors,  it  becomes  not 
only  a matter  of  humanity'  and  philanthropy,  but 
also  one  of  self-protection,  that  they’  shall  be  kept 
from  the  ravages  of  disease,  and  that  the  entire 
population  shall  be  preserved  from  the  menace  of 
their  unfortunate  ignorance  and  inability  to  ward 
off  disease. 

The  work  of  this  medical  college,  with  its  nurse 
training  school  and  hospital,  is  absolutely  essential 
to  the  physical  and,  indirectly',  the  moral  and 
spiritual,  salvation  of  the  race.  Its  graduates  are 
scattered  throughout  the  villages  and  cities  of  the 
entire  South.  6 


Flint-Goodridge  Hospital  and  Nurse  Training 
School 

Flint-Goodridge  Hospital  and  Nurse  Training 
School  is  located  on  Canal  Street,  New  Orleans, 
Louisiana.  Its  buildings  are  almost  opposite  the 
Tulane  Medical  College,  which  is  the  leading  white 
medical  school  of  the  South.  Through  the  liberality 
of  the  late  Mr.  John  D.  Flint,  of  F'all  River,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  his  widow,  Mrs.  Flint,  and  her  daugh- 
ter, Mrs.  Ella  Stafford,  this  institution  has  been 
carrying  on  the  blessed  ministry  of  healing  in  New 
Orleans  and  vicinity  for  many  years.  At  the  present 
time  a new  hospital  of  fifty  beds  is  completed,  at  a 
cost  of  over  $20,000.  The  total  value  of  this  prop- 
erty is  $72,000.  Nearly  a million  of  colored  people 
in  New  Orleans  and  vicinity  are  dependent  upon 
this  hospital  for  the  care  of  such  of  their  sick  as 
cannot  be  treated  in  their  own  homes.  Its  class  of 
nurses  last  year  numbered  twenty. 

Clark  University 

Clark  University,  Atlanta,  Georgia,  is,  under  the 
new  arrangement  of  the  schools  of  the  Freedmen’s 
Aid  Society,  to  be  its  only  university.  It  is  lo- 
cated at  Atlanta,  side  by  side  with  Gammon  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  on  a beautiful  campus  of  370 
acres  of  what  was  at  one  time  a pine  forest.  It  has 
twelve  buildings,  valued  at  $330,000,  with  an  addi- 
tional value  of  $8,000  in  its  equipment.  Of  the 
370  acres  of  land,  it  is  the  hope  of  the  Society  that 
in  time  three  hundred  or  more  acres  may  become 
available  for  building  purposes,  and  from  the  pro- 
ceeds the  beginnings  of  an  endowment  may  be 
secured.  The  attendance  last  year  was  273,  with 
15  teachers. 


7 


Thayer  Home,  located  on  the  same  campus,  is 
one  of  the  most  successful  and  prosperous  of  the 
model  homes  for  colored  girls  carried  on  by  the 
Woman’s  Home  Missionary  Society.  The  influ- 
ence of  this  Home  on  the  girls  at  Clark  is  felt  to-day 
in  scores  of  parsonages  and  hundreds  of  other  homes 
where  graduates  of  Clark  and  Thayer  have  gone. 


Training  the  hand  as  well  as  the  mind 


Bennett  College 

Bennett  College,  Greensboro,  North  Carolina,  is 
located  about  one  mile  from  the  center  of  the  cit \ 
on  a beautiful  site  of  nineteen  acres.  With  its  six 
buildings,  the  whole  property  is  valued  at  $41,500, 
and  has  an  equipment  worth  $3,000.  In  addition 
to  the  ordinary  work  of  training  teachers  and  Chris- 
tian leaders,  the  school  grounds  furnish  excellent 
opportunity  for  agricultural  instruction.  The  at- 
tendance is  368,  with  14  teachers. 

8 


Kent  Home,  with  its  new  and  attractive  brick 
building,  occupies  a corner  lot  adjoining  Bennett 
College.  It  is  neat,  clean,  and  up-to-date  in  all  of 
its  appointments.  A large  number  of  the  girl  stu- 
dents in  Bennett  live  here,  and  are  trained  in  all 
the  domestic  arts.  No  greater  good  can  be  done 
for  the  colored  people  at  the  present  time  than  the 
training  of  the  homemakers  of  the  future.  This  is 
admirably  done  at  Kent  Home. 

Claflin  College 

Claflin  College,  at  Orangeburg,  South  Carolina, 
is  the  largest  industrial  and  educational  center 
among  the  schools  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society. 
It  is  located  in  the  midst  of  one  of  the  blackest  of 
the  black  l>elts  of  the  South,  having  a colored  con- 
stituency which  takes  in  the  whole  State  of  South 
Carolina  and  much  outside.  The  South  Carolina 
is  the  largest  of  our  colored  Conferences,  and  its 
success  is  almost  wholly  attributed  to  the  work  of 
the  graduates  of  Claflin.  A list  of  its  district  super- 
intendents and  the  occupants  of  its  principal 
charges,  with  the  leading  colored  lawyers,  physi- 
cians, and  business  men  of  that  whole  section,  would 
almost  be  a list  of  the  graduates  and  former  stu- 
dents of  this  school.  Its  grounds  contain  sixty 
acres  in  and  around  the  buildings,  with  a 160-acre 
farm  two  or  three  miles  in  the  country.  Here  the 
principal  industrial  shops  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid 
Society  are  located,  where,  in  its  twenty-six  build- 
ings, Clallin  teaches  not  only  literary  subjects,  but 
practically  all  trades  and  industries,  including  agri- 
culture. The  graduates  of  its  industrial  and  tech- 
nical departments  occupy  high  positions  as  teachers 
in  other  schools  and  in  the  building  trades  and 
industries  everywhere  throughout  the  South.  The 
9 


property  is  worth  $250,000,  with  an  equipment 
valued  at  $15,000.  Its  student  body  numbers  542, 
with  37  teachers. 

Mr.  S.  H.  Tingley,  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island, 
has  been  for  years  a benefactor  of  this  college.  It 
was  through  his  liberality  that  the  present  Tingley 
Memorial  Hall,  which  is  the  principal  building  on 
the  grounds,  was  erected  at  a cost  of  over  $50,000. 


These  young  women  carry  forth  among  their  people  the 
example  of  ennobled  Christian  womanhood 


Samuel  Huston  College 

Samuel  Huston  College  is  located  in  Austin,  the 
capital  city  of  Texas,  about  five  blocks  east  of  the 
beautiful  capitol  building.  Here  the  Society  has  a 
main  campus  of  about  six  acres,  with  an  additional 
eight  and  a half  acres  just  outside  the  city  limits, 
the  latter  being  used  for  agricultural  training.  On 
the  campus  in  the  city  there  are  nine  comparatively 
new  buildings,  with  their  equipment,  valued  at 
10 


S78,(KX).  The  whole  of  Southwestern  Texas  is  con- 
tributary  to  this  school,  and  here  are  trained  the 
leaders  of  that  vast  Western  Texas  empire.  The 
attendance  is  314,  with  23  teachers. 

Mr.  E.  T.  Burrowes,  of  Portland,  Maine,  has 
taken  special  interest  in  this  school,  having  visited 
it  on  two  or  three  occasions,  and  noting  the  wonder- 
ful work  that  it  is  accomplishing,  has  furnished  the 
funds  necessary  for  the  erection  of  one  of  its  main 
buildings. 

On  the  adjoining  lot  is  the  Eliza  Dee  Home  of 
the  Woman’s  Home.  Missionary  Society,  a new 
building  for  which  is  being  erected.  The  godly 
white  women,  who  have  gone  into  the  South  as 
superintendents  of  this  and  other  Homes  like  it, 
are  doing  the  largest  service  to  the  colored  people 
through  the  training  that  they  are  giving  in  this 
and  other  Homes  to  the  girls  taking  studies  in  the 
schools  of  the  Freedinen’s  Aid  Society. 


Morgan  College 

Morgan  College  is  located  in  the  city  of  Balti- 
more, Maryland,  and  has  for  its  colored  constit- 
uency the  Washington  and  Delaware  Conferences. 
In  addition,  it  is  supported  by  and  has  the  special 
care  of  the  Baltimore  and  Wilmington  Conferences, 
thus  combining  the  wisdom  and  financial  backing  of 
two  of  our  strongest  white  Conferences  and  two  of 
our  ablest  and  best  colored  Conferences.  It  has  a 
property  in  the  city  of  Baltimore  valued  at  §35,000, 
with  an  equipment  of  §6,500.  It  has  nine  teachers 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  students.  It 
does  high-grade  collegiate  and  academic  work,  and 
aims  at  quality  rather  than  quantity.  This  insti- 
tution has  two  affiliated  schools. 

11 


Princess  Anne  Academy 
One  of  these  is  Princess  Anne  Academy,  at  Prin- 
cess Anne,  Maryland,  where  the  school  owns  a 
farm  of  118  acres,  with  four  buildings  thereon,  all 
of  which  is  valued  at  $15,000.  This  institution  has 
12  teachers  and  on  its  enrollment  133  students.  It 
not  only  sends  its  graduates  to  Morgan  College,  but 
large  numbers  of  them  go  out  in  the  surrounding 
district  as  school  teachers  and  Christian  leaders. 

Virginia  Collegiate  Institute 
Virginia  Collegiate  and  Industrial  Institute  is  the 
other  school  affiliated  with  Morgan.  It  is  located 
at  Lynchburg,  Virginia,  on  a fifteen-acre  tract,  with 
one  main  building,  the  whole  valued  at  $35,000. 
Five  teachers  and  ninety-two  students  constitute 
the  school,  whose  influence  and  power  for  good 
have  shown  themselves  in  all  our  churches  through- 
out this  territory. 

Our  two  colored  Conferences,  Delaware  and 
Washington,  contain  some  of  the  strongest  men  in 
our  colored  membership,  and  Morgan  College,  with 
its  affiliated  schools,  is  responsible  for  the  strength 
of  these  two  Conferences. 


A normal  class  at  one  of  our  schools 


New  Orleans  College 

New  Orleans  College  is  located  on  two  and  a 
quarter  beautiful  city  blocks,  making  a campus  of 
about  three  acres,  out  on  St.  Charles  Avenue,  New 
Orleans,  Louisiana,  not  far  from  Tulane  University, 
which  is  the  principal  university  for  white  people 
in  the  South.  The  school  has  eight  buildings,  whose 
value,  in  addition  to  the  real  estate,  amounts  to 
S135.000.  Over  600,000  colored  people  in  Louisiana 
and  nearby  States  are  served  by  this  school.  It 
has  21  teachers,  and  its  students  number  over  500. 
On  one  of  the  lots  is  located  the  beautiful  Peck 
Home  of  the  Woman’s  Home  Missionary  Society, 
which  shelters  and  mothers  fifty  or  sixty  girls,  who 
take  domestic  science  work  in  the  Home  and  are 
pupils  in  New  Orleans  College. 

This  institution  is  cramped  for  room,  and  ad- 
joining property  is  immensely  expensive.  Never- 
theless, it  is  doing  a magnificent  work  for  the  city 
and  the  whole  of  the  Louisiana  Conference. 

Rust  College 

Rust  College,  Holly  Springs,  Mississippi,  has  for 
years  held  a leading  place  in  the  educational  affairs 
of  the  State  of  Mississippi,  and  has  been  one  of  the 
principal  schools  of  the  Freedmen’s  Aid  Society. 
It  is  located  in  the  beautiful  city  above  named  in 
Northern  Mississippi,  a place  made  famous  in  war 
times  as  one  of  the  headquarters  of  General  Grant. 
It  has  sixty  acres  of  ground  admirably  adapted  to 
agriculture  and  landscape  gardening.  The  value  of 
the  land,  with  nine  buildings,  is  $70,000,  with 
$8,000  additional  for  equipment.  This  school  is 
named  after  Rev.  R.  S.  Rust,  D.D.,  the  first,  and 
for  many  years  the  only,  corresponding  secretary  of 
13 


the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society.  It  has  19  teachers 
and  223  students.  This  institution  serves  one  of 
the  strongest  colored  Conferences  of  our  church, 
the  Upper  Mississippi.  The  leaders  of  our  forces 
in  that  section  are  almost  to  a man  and  woman 
graduates  of  Rust. 

Side  by  side  with  Rust  College  is  carried  on 
Elizabeth  L.  Rust  Home,  where  a large  number  of 
girls  who  take  literary  work  in  the  school  are  cared 
for  and  trained  under  the  direction  of  Christian 
women,  whose  influence  for  right  living  upon  these 
girls  is  incalculable. 


At  Rust  College.  Holly  Springs.  Miss.,  one  of  the  chief 
industries  is  the  manufacture  of  mission  furniture 


George  R.  Smith  College 

George  R.  Smith  College,  at  Sedalia,  Missouri, 
is  named  after  one  of  the  Union  generals  of  the 
war,  a prominent  citizen  of  the  State  of  Missouri. 
Its  twenty-four  acres  of  beautiful  Missouri  land  in 
the  edge  of  Sedalia  was  the  gift  of  the  two  daughters 
of  General  George  R.  Smith,  Mrs.  G.  C.  McLaughlin 
and  Mrs.  Sarah  E.  Cotton,  the  latter  of  whom  con- 
14 


tinues  an  honored  and  respected  resident  of  Sedalia. 
The  one  main  building,  with  the  land  adjoining, 
constitute  a property  worth  S37.000.  The  school 
has  11  teachers  and  76  students.  The  Central 
Missouri  and  Lincoln  Conferences  constitute  the 
territory  of  George  R.  Smith  College.  While  the 
State  of  Missouri  has  recognized  the  educational 
needs  of  its  colored  people  and  is  doing  vastly  more 
for  them  than  the  States  farther  south,  yet  if  we 
are  to  have  ministers  and  Christian  leaders  for  our 
churches  and  Sunday  schools  in  the  above  two 
Conferences,  George  R.  Smith  must  continue  to 
educate  and  train  them. 


Philander  Smith  College 

Philander  Smith  College,  at  Little  Rock,  Ar- 
kansas, is  located  in  a thickly-settled  colored  sec- 
tion of  the  city  of  Little  Rock.  It  has  nine  city  lots, 
constituting  about  two  acres,  with  four  buildings, 
one  of  which,  Webb  Hall,  a dormitory  for  girls,  has 
just  been  finished.  The  whole  State  of  Arkansas, 
with  parts  of  adjacent  States,  constitute  the  ter- 
ritory of  this  school.  More  than  half  of  the  colored 
teachers  in  the  State  of  Arkansas  are  graduates  of 
this  institution.  It  has  25  teachers  and  423  stu- 
dents. The  value  of  its  property  is  §50,000. 

One  of  the  largest  of  the  Woman’s  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society’s  model  Homes,  the  Adeline  Smith 
Home,  is  across  the  corner  from  Philander  Smith 
College.  Here  for  many  years  have  been  trained 
and  directed  the  minds  and  hearts  of  many  young 
girls,  who  have  been  sent  out  to  be  influences  for 
righteousness  and  examples  of  all  that  is  best  and 
purest  in  domestic  life  in  the  villages  and  cities  of 
Arkansas. 


15 


Walden  College 

Walden  College,  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  is 
located  in  the  very  heart  of  one  of  the  colored  sec- 
tions of  the  city,  side  by  side  with  Meharry  Medical 
College,  and  for  many  years  has  been  a liberal 
feeder  to  that  institution.  The  Tennessee  and  Lex- 
ington Conferences  constitute  the  patronizing  ter- 
ritory of  Walden.  It  has  12  teachers  and  a student 
body  of  144.  Recently  great  changes  have  taken 
place  in  the  property  of  this  school.  A new  class- 
room building  and  library,  the  \\  hetstone  Memorial, 
has  been  erected  at  a cost  of  over  $25,000.  All  of 
the  old,  dilapidated  small  buildings  on  the  campus 
have  been  removed  and  the  whole  place  rehabili- 
tated. The  foundation  for  a new  girls’  dormitory 
is  up  and  awaiting  the  funds  with  which  to  com- 
plete it.  The  present  value  of  the  property  is 
$70,000.  A new  interest  is  being  taken  in  this 
school  by  its  alumni,  and  they  propose  in  the  near 
future  to  raise  funds  with  which  to  complete  the 
dormitory. 

The  library  of  the  late  Bishop  Walden  was  by 
him  left  to  this  school,  and  is  now  installed  in  one 
of  the  beautiful  rooms  of  the  Whetstone  Memorial 
Building.  It  is  to  be  used  in  connection  with  the 
Bible  Training  School,  to  be  a part  of  the  work  of 
Walden. 

Wiley  College 

Wiley  College  is  located  at  Marshall,  in  Northern 
Texas,  and  has  for  its  constituency  the  Texas  Con- 
ference with  its  thousands  of  prosperous  and  well- 
to-do  colored  people.  There  is  no  part  of  the 
country  where  the  colored  man  has  a better  chance 
than  in  Texas,  and  he  is  evidently  taking  advantage 
of  his  opportunities.  On  a beautiful  eminence  in 
16 


the  outskirts  of  Marshall  the  fourteen  handsome 
buildings  of  this  school  prominently  loom  up  before 
every  visitor  to  the  city.  The  whole  property  is 
valued  at  8190,000,  with  88,000  additional  for 
equipment.  Here  is  one  of  the  places  where  Mr. 
Andrew  Carnegie  saw  fit  to  make  a gift  of  $10,000 
for  a library.  This  school  is  one  of  the  few  in  the 
South  whose  graduates  are  entitled  to  teachers’ 
certificates  without  examination  in  nearly  all  of 
the  States.  No  wonder  that  our  Texas  colored 
Methodists  are  proud  of  Wiley  and  send  their  chil- 
dren there  to  be  educated.  The  future  of  that  whole 
territory  is  wrapped  up  in  the  work  of  this  college. 
The  student  body  numbers  386,  with  24  teachers. 

King  Home  is  across  the  street  from  the  campus. 
Its  girls  take  their  literary  studies  in  Wiley,  but 
they  live  as  a model  family  under  the  direction  of 
Christian  women,  and  are  taught  all  the  domestic 
arts  and  sciences,  in  addition  to  their  other  school 
work,  so  that  when  they  go  out  among  their  people 
they  are  qualified  to  do  the  highest  kind  of  social 
service  in  the  cities  and  villages  where  they  reside. 


Central  Alabama  Institute 

Central  Alabama  Institute,  at  Mason  City,  a 
suburb  of  Birmingham,  is  situated  in  a beautiful 
pine  forest  of  forty  acres,  on  which  are  six  main 
buildings,  the  whole  valued  at  840,000.  This  is 
more  nearly  a family  school  than  any  other  of  our 
institutions.  The  President  and  his  good  wife  have 
here  a colony  of  11  teachers  and  145  students, 
gathered  from  the  city  of  Birmingham  and  Alabama 
in  general,  in  a little  suburb  or  extension  of  the  city 
of  Birmingham,  all  to  themselves,  where  they  are 
carefully  fathering  and  mothering,  as  well  as  cd- 
17 


ucating  these  boys  and  girls  in  all  the  domestic 
industries,  agriculture,  gardening,  and  preparation 
for  school  teaching  and  other  employments  among 
their  own  people.  No  greater  work  is  being  done 
anywhere,  and  none  will  tell  in  larger  results  than 
the  character-forming  that  is  here  carried  on  by 
this  good  president  and  his  wife. 

Cookman  Institute 

Cookman  Institute,  at  Jacksonville,  Florida,  is 
located  in  a Negro  settlement  on  the  east  side  of 
the  city,  on  a tract  of  seven  acres,  with  three  main 
buildings,  all  valued  at  860,000.  The  State  of 
Florida  and  some  sections  of  Southern  Georgia  send 
407  students  to  this  institution,  where  there  are 
fifteen  teachers.  The  Florida  Conference  and  South 
Florida  Mission  are  our  colored  Conferences  con- 
tributing to  the  school.  In  addition,  our  white 
Gulf  Conference,  by  formal  vote,  desired  to  have 
its  contributions  to  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society 
made  use  of  in  carrying  on  the  work  of  Cookman 
Institute. 


Gilbert  Industrial  Institute 

Gilbert  Industrial  Institute,  at  Baldwin,  Lou- 
isiana, one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  west  of  New 
Orleans,  on  the  Southern  Railway,  located  on  the 
banks  of  the  Bayou  Teche,  made  famous  by  Long- 
fellow’s “Evangeline,”  is  a combination  of  school 
and  orphanage.  It  is  affiliated  with  New  Orleans 
College;  has  11  teachers  and  194  students. 

A farm  of  eleven  hundred  acres,  all  but  three 
hundred  and  fifty  of  which  is  swamp,  is  connected 
with  this  school  and  orphanage,  the  proceeds  of 
which  go  toward  the  support  of  both  institutions. 

18 


The  value  of  this  land,  with  the  fourteen  buildings, 
is  estimated  to  be  $65,000.  A magnificent  oppor- 
tunity is  here  presented  for  the  building  up  of  an 
industrial  and  agricultural  institution,  waiting  only 
for  the  money  with  which  to  develop  its  possi- 
bilities. Its  prosperity  and  endowment  are  the  re- 
sult of  the  prophetic  vision,  tireless  industry',  and 
successful  administration  of  Rev'.  W.  D.  Godman, 
for  years  its  president.  His  daughter,  Miss  Inez  A. 
Godman,  continues  her  interest  in  the  future  de- 
velopment of  the  school. 


Haven  Institute 

Haven  Institute,  at  Meridian,  Mississippi,  fur- 
nishes ministers  and  Christian  leaders  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi Conference,  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Southern 
black  belt.  The  site  of  the  school  is  inside  the  city 
limits,  on  three  acres  of  ground,  which,  with  three 
buildings,  makes  a property  valuation  of  $35,000. 
In  connection  with  the  work  of  the  school  the  city 
of  Meridian  has  built  a public  library  on  one  corner 
of  the  campus,  to  be  used  jointly  by  the  colored 
people  of  Meridian  and  the  school.  It  constitutes 
a part  of  the  school  equipment.  The  attendance  of 
students  is  322,  and  nine  teachers  assist  the  presi- 
dent in  training  his  boys  and  girls.  The  school  is 
greatly  cramped  for  room,  both  in  grounds  and 
buildings.  By  formal  vote  of  the  Board  of  Man- 
agers of  the  Freedmen’s  Aid  Society,  the  name  of 
this  school  was  recently'  changed  from  Meridian 
Institute  to  Haven  Institute,  thus  continuing  the 
honored  name  of  Gilbert  Haven  in  connection 
with  one  of  the  schools  of  the  Freedmen’s  Aid 
Society. 


19 


There  is  always  a market  for  the  brooms  made  at 
Morristow  n College 


Morristown  Normal  and  Industrial  College 

Morristown  Normal  and  Industrial  College  is 
located  on  a high  eminence  on  the  east  side  of 
the  city  of  Morristown,  Tennessee.  Its  seven 
buildings,  with  the  fifty-acre  campus  on  which 
they  stand,  are  valued  at  over  $100,000,  and 
recently,  through  a gift  of  S19.500  from  a 
friend,  the  president  has  been  enabled  to  pur- 
chase a 300-acre  farm  near  by,  where  the  begin- 
nings of  agricultural  training  are  being  made, 
and  on  which  he  expects  to  develop  a department 
of  agriculture  worthy  of  any  for  colored  people  in 
20 


the  South.  The  industrial,  domestic  science,  and 
normal  departments  have  from  the  beginning  been 
emphasized  at  Morristown.  A foundry',  machine 
shop,  and  broom  factory  constitute  the  leading  in- 
dustries taught  here.  It  has  twenty  teachers  and 
361  students. 

On  the  same  ground  is  located  the  New  Jersey 
Home  of  the  Woman's  Home  Missionary  Society, 
which  ably  supplements  the  work  of  the  larger  in- 
stitution by  training  the  girls  in  domestic  science, 
and  giving  them  the  higher  and  broader  vision  and 
the  importance  of  the  Christian  home  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  race. 

The  twelve  wise  men  who  organized  the  Freed- 
men's  Aid  Society  fifty  years  ago  have  all  gone  to 
their  eternal  home,  but  the  work  which  they  began 
goes  on,  and  will  go  on  forever.  Heaven  must  be 
the  more  enjoyable  to  them  as  they  see  “what  God 
hath  wrought”  through  their  plans.  They  were: 
Bishop  Davis  W.  Clark;  John  M.  Walden,  after- 
ward Bishop;  John  M.  Reid,  afterward  Missionary 
Secretary;  Richard  S.  Rust;  Adam  Poe;  Luke 
Hitchcock;  Benjamin  F.  Crary;  Robert  Allyn;  J.  R. 
Stillwell;  J.  F.  Larkin;  Judge  Grant  Goodrich,  and 
Thomas  M.  Eddy,  afterward  Missionary  Secretary. 

What  God  Hath  Wrought  for  the  Negro  Race 
in  America  in  Fifty  Years 

Half  a century  ago  the  Negro  was  a chattel 
without  education,  property,  or  opportunity  of  any 
sort.  Four  millions  of  him  then,  ten  millions  now, 
but  what  a wonderful  contrast  between  the  condi- 
tion of  the  ten  millions  of  to-day  and  the  four 
millions  of  fifty  years  ago.  Read  both  sides  of  this 
parallel  and  see  what  has  been  accomplished 
through  fifty  years  of  Christian  training. 

21 


Population,  census  1860:  Slaves,  3,953,760; 

Free,  487,970;  total 4,441,730 

Illiteracy 90% 

Value  of  property,  estimated  at $1,200,000 

N umber  of  colleges  and  universities 1 

Number  of  college  graduates,  estimated  at 30 

Number  of  practicing  physicians  and  pharma- 
cists  0 

Number  of  lawyers 0 

Number  of  banks  operated  by  Negroes 0 

Number  of  Negro  towns 0 

Number  of  newspapers 1 

Number  of  churches  owned,  estimated  at 400 

Value  of  church  property $500,000 

Membership  of  Negro  churches,  estimated  at.  . . 40,000 

Number  of  children  in  schools,  estimated  at  . . 25,000 


Total  Negro  population  (United  States),  1910. . . 9,828,294 

Homes  owned  by  Negroes 500,000 

Churches  owned  by  Negroes 31,393 

Church  membership 3,207,305 

Sunday  schools 24,380 

Sunday  school  scholars 1,448,570 

Illiteracy,  census  1910 30.5% 

Value  of  property,  estimated  at $1,000,000,000 

Number  of  farms  owned 250,000 

Value  of  church  property S65 ,000,000 

Number  of  college  and  university  graduates.  . . 8,000 

Professional  men 75,000 

Number  of  practicing  physicians,  estimated  at.  . 3,500 

Number  of  practicing  lawyers 1,500 

Number  of  business  men,  estimated  at 50,000 

Number  of  children  in  schools 2,000,000 

Number  of  Negro  towns 50 

Number  of  Negro  teachers 30.000 

Land  ov'ned  by  Negroes 20.000,000 

acres,  or  31,000  square  miles. 

Drug  stores 300 

General  stores  and  other  industrial  enterprises.  . 20,000 

Newspapers  and  periodicals 398 

Hospital  and  nurse  training  schools 61 

Banks  owned  by  Negroes 72 

Insurance  companies 100 

66.2  per  cent  of  all  Negroes  in  the  United  States, 
ten  years  of  age  or  over,  are  engaged  in  gain- 
ful occupations. 

Property  owned  by  Negro  secret  societies $3,000,000 

Capital  stock  Negro  banks  $2,000,000 

Annual  business  done  by  Negro  banks $20,000,000 

22 


The  Freedmen’s  Aid  Society  has  contributed  a 
large  share  of  this  magnificent  result  through  its 
twenty-one  schools.  During  that  time  it  has  sent 
out  more  than  200,000  young  people,  who  received 
the  broader  and  higher  outlook  from  its  Christian 
teachers.  Notwithstanding  the  above  magnificent 
results,  the  present  need  of  the  Negro  is  still  great. 
In  order  that  the  results  already  achieved  may  not 
be  lost  and  that  ultimate  success  may  crown  the 
efforts  of  the  schools  and  churches,  the  work  must 
be  carried  on  with  greater  enthusiasm  and  energy' 
and  at  larger  cost  than  ever  before.  Thousands  of 
young  people  are  knocking  at  the  doors  of  our  in- 
stitutions pleading  for  that  preparation  of  mind  and 
heart  that  will  fit  them  to  help  the  race  still  onward 
and  upward  into  the  larger  life  of  Christian  man- 
hood and  womanhood,  which  is  the  heritage  of 
every  child  of  God.  Educated  ministers,  teachers 
and  Christian  leaders  are  sorely  needed  among  the 
colored  people  in  all  sections  of  the  South.  The 
public  schools  are  languishing  for  lack  of  properly 
trained  teachers,  and  the  village  and  country 
churches  cry  aloud  for  young  men  and  women 
sufficiently  educated  to  teach  in  the  Sunday  schools 
and  lead  the  better  example  of  Christian  helpful- 
ness before  the  masses  that  are  still  ignorant  and 
backward  and  in  need  of  training  in  the  simpler 
elements  of  moral  manhood  and  womanhood.  The 
work  already  accomplished  in  fifty  years  warrants 
the  assurance  that  if  continued,  the  progress  in  the 
next  half  century  will  give  to  this  race  a further 
advance  on  the  road  which  they  have  been  so 
rapidly  traveling  since  their  emancipation. 

For  further  information,  write  the  Correspond- 
ing Secretaries,  222  West  Fourth  Street,  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio. 


23 


BEQUESTS  and  devises 

Persons  disposed  to  make  bequests  to  the  Society 
by  will  are  requested  to  observe  the  following  form: 

I give  and  bequeath  to  “ The  Freedmen’s  Aid 
Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,” 
a corporation  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of 

Ohio,  the  sum  of  $ and  receipt  of 

the  Treasurer  thereof  shall  be  a sufficient  dis- 
charge to  my  executors  for  the  same. 


